How To Hack Your Marketing
Budget-Friendly Ways for Independent Insurance Agents and Agencies To Boost Their Marketing
Marketing is a quintessential component to success for every insurance agency. But how do you promote your agency on a budget? GS National Insurance has recommendations to help you grow your book of business without breaking the bank. In fact, there are many marketing opportunities that come with no cost whatsoever.
Here are our Top 10 picks for budget-friendly marketing options for insurance agencies of any size:
1. Get to Google. Google My Business is a free profile that can help more people find your contact information through Google Search and Google Maps. Be sure to create and verify your Google My Business profile to take advantage of this often-overlooked opportunity.
2. Get Reviews. Never skip the chance to ask clients to leave online reviews for your agency. Reviews on Google and Facebook can help with your organic (free) search engine optimization (SEO). BONUS TIP: As more clients leave online reviews for your agency, you can pull from their testimonials and feedback to build social media content that feature your client testimonials, helping you curate more content for your social accounts.
3. Get Focused On Your Website. Many independent agents and agencies overlook the significance of maintaining a quality website. While the design and development of your site may be a necessary expense that will require some budgeting, the content that you add to your site can largely be crafted at no cost whatsoever. Write and regularly post articles, blogs, links to online resources and other valuable information that can help your website to bring more quality content to your site’s visitors. As you add fresh content, you’ll be boosting your organic SEO while helping your site attract more traffic.
4. Get on Instagram. This free platform continues to soar in popularity — yet it often remains in the shadows as agents and agencies focus on Facebook. Remember that Instagram allows you to share photos, go live, and post Instagram stories quickly and easily. All popular social media platforms have excellent SEO. By adding your agency to successful platforms like Instagram, you’re helping your agency’s profile and basic contact information to be seen by more people online. Plus, Instagram allows agents and agencies to relate to their clients in down-to-earth, fun ways that tend to garner a lot of engagement and interest from Instagram followers.
5. Get Backlinks. One of the oldest and most steadfast ways to build SEO is to build a network of quality online sites that link back to your website. Google and other search engines often rank websites based on how the content relates to any given online search; and one of the key determinants of how credible a source is viewed by the search engine robots is how many other, third-party websites are linking back to the site in question. That means that the more legitimate websites that link back to your website in some way, the greater your SEO. Because paid SEO can be quite costly, anything that you can do to be found online with little to no cost is an opportunity not to be overlooked. One legitimate way to help build backlinks to your website is to make sure that your website is listed in major online directories like Facebook Business, Yellow Pages online, and Yelp. Many directories allow free submissions. So be sure to spend a bit of time connecting your site to relevant, major online directories to help build up your website’s backlinks and increase your SEO.
6. Get a Colleague. One of the best ways to maximize your marketing is to tag team your campaigns. Put together a group of non-competitive businesses across your community to see how you can synergistically support one another. By sharing in promotions or developing cross-promotions, you’ll also be sharing in the cost of promoting your agency. You can incorporate flyers, bundled promotions, and special events that spotlight your agency, alongside other local businesses who may share your audiences. By pulling your strengths with other professionals, you’ll automatically have an opportunity to expand your marketing influence and reach new people.
7. Get Academic. Learning continues at every age. For insurance agents and agencies that specialize in the senior healthcare marketplace, clients are often retired individuals who are consistently seeking ways to learn new skills, advance their hobbies, and expand their social circles. This is a wonderful opportunity for agents and agencies to host free classes, webinars and workshops. Whether directly related to an insurance product or health and wellness topics such as nutrition or fitness, there are countless ways to connect with your clients and potential clients through organized events that help to educate and inspire your clients while positioning you as a caring agency who is accessible, hands-on, and committed to sharing knowledge, answering questions, and helping clients enjoy their best lives. You can opt to host a speaking event in which you provide a forum for Q&As or partner with local gyms, personal trainers, dieticians, or nutritionists who specialize in developing programs that would be of interest to your clients. These types of workshops, seminars and learning opportunities are typically low-cost ways to encourage a crowd and help you connect with more people in new ways.
8. Get Offline. While digital advertising is likely going to make up a bulk of your marketing efforts, don’t ignore the simple effectiveness of traditional marketing materials such as business cards and brochures. Well-designed and professionally printed cards and collateral literature can help to build and reinforce your branding, allowing you to have quick access to leave-behind materials with every meeting. BONUS TIP: When you create materials like business cards or brochures, be sure to ask your designer for a low-resolution PDF that you can share digitally. This will allow you to make literature available for download from your website at no additional cost to you.
9. Get Local Press. As you build out content for your website, social media, blog, or newsletter — or prepare for a speaking event or special workshop, be sure to submit a press release to your local media. If you’re informing your neighbors about topics of interest or hosting an event that would be of community interest, your local press may run a story to help spread the word — all at no cost to you.
10. Get Graphic. Studies show that only 16% of people read content word for word, whereas 79% of people scan pages and online posts. The old adage of a picture being worth a thousand words still holds true. Within your marketing, online and off, be sure to incorporate graphics and visuals that can quickly and succinctly get your messages through to your audiences. Consider creating infographics for your website and social content. These graphics are eye-catching storytellers that can paint a quick visual that gets attention. Because infographics are extremely popular across the internet, creating your own allows for opportunities for others to share your graphics or link back to your website as the source of the graphic. That’s another free way to improve your SEO as you work to improve the performance of your content.
Give these free and low-cost marketing techniques a try. No matter your marketing budget, you’ll always want to increase the success of your marketing while getting more value from each and every investment. For more ways to help you succeed, get to know us at GSNI. We are a unique FMO committed to the success of our partners. Learn about how we’re different and how we can put our tools to work for you by visiting us at gsnational.com.
Sources:
· https://www.quicksprout.com/marketing-on-a-budget
· https://blogs.constantcontact.com/market-your-small-business
· https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/12-ways-to-market-your-business-on-a-budget
GS National Insurance is an independently owned insurance marketing organization. We specialize in helping independent advisors increase their Health, Life, and Annuity Business. Our primary focus is the senior health insurance marketplace. We combine technology and experience to deliver high-quality service and support. Learn more at gsnational.com
